Monday, December 29, 2014

I am taking a mental break to write this :) I came back to loads of work and I'm definitely happy about that. It's nice to keep my mind busy rather than wondering how it's going at daycare, even though I am wondering how it's going.

Looking back, I was so sad to send Emma off. I felt guilt and fear and a lot of unknowns. It is such a blessing to not feel the same emotions or at least not so much of the same emotions. Obviously you feel a little sad and scared to leave them for the first time, but I think I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again, I really love and trust my daycare.

We had a great night last night and Emma and Matthew slept great. They both actually had to be woken up for the day. Mind you, Matthew had been up 2 or 3 times throughout the night, but that's to be expected.

DH and I got the kids dressed and fed, in the car and out the door without any hiccups on Day 1. I'll take it. As I drove to daycare I got a tiny bit emotional, but no tears were shed. My little angels were silent and happy the whole way there. Emma did a great job carrying in her new lunchbox to school as I carried Matthew, his food, extra snacks, my purse, Emma's cot, etc. :) hahaha. We had helpers as soon as we walked in take Emma and Matthew and just give me some extra support on my first day.

Emma got settled first and then we got Matthew all out and comfortable before I left. He's got 5 bottles and 3 extra frozen for school. I'm curious to see what feeding schedule he chooses, as he eats pretty often at home :)

I walked out of the center with no tears and a smile on my face. I'm already ready to go and give them both a squeeze, but I have to be honest, I am enjoying the adult interaction and quiet office that comes with going back to work.

I'm sure everything will be great, but a check-in may be in order as well. :)

Thursday, December 18, 2014

These days things seem crazy. I feel like we are trying to get some type of schedule happening and it's working little by little. I'll take every inch I can get.

Our schedule seems to be working more on weekday nights. Emma gets home around 530 - 600pm and we have dinner together. After dinner is cleanup time and playtime.

Bathtime starts around 730 pm for Emma

( a little later than before because she's getting a little older).

While one of us bathes and puts Emma to bed the other has Matthew and he gets bathtime after Emma.

Emma normally is asleep around 800 - 815pm and Matthew has been starting to go to sleep around 830 - 900 pm.

Even though the kids go to bed later, we still don't get to sleep around 10 - 11pm because after bedtime then comes cleanup again and folding the laundry we couldn't get to, actually having adult conversations and taking care of all the other odds and ends we couldn't do with two kids to take care of at the same time. I think it's working though.

So Emma and I had our first baking experience. Did I talk about this already? I don't think so, but I definitely fulfilled a dream I'm not sure I knew I had. Baking with her was SO FUN! I hope she liked it even half as much as I did. We had matching aprons that she loved and she loved putting the ingredients in the bowl. She was even very good at not touching the KitchenAid while it was on.

Best part - tasting the fruits of your labor!

Our Brother-in-law, Tom, called us up and said he had a john deere tractor that his son (our nephew) had outgrown and wondered if we wanted it............UM YES!

Emma isn't really sure if she likes it or not and I'm pretty sure DH and I had more fun pushing the pedal instead of Emma, but hopefully by the spring she'll have her confidence up and be able to move around the yard. Ugh, it was ridiculously cute.

Emma is as always obsessed with her brother and loving that we are letting her hold him more. She always wants to hug him. She's growing up so much and still learning new words on a daily basis. Her current obsessions are saying bottle and apple. I'm not sure if Apple was the first word they learned at school but she says it extremely clearly all the time.

She has also started yelling HI DADDY or HI MOMMY when she sees us. Nothing is better than that.

Matthew is still growing like a weed. He's in about 6-9 month clothes...YIKES! He is also growing so much. He smiles all the time and has become less cranky when he's awake. He is starting to like his playmat (slowly) and also starting to be able to sit in a chair for a little while without being bounced or vibrated. He is also "talking" up a storm. If you talk to him he will normally goo goo and ga ga right back at you. He is getting very good at going to sleep right around the same time every night and going back to sleep after each feed. He's waking up at 530am for the day these days which isn't my favorite but at least I get to hang out with Emma before daycare because of it.

Only 11 days until daycare starts. I'm happy and a little sad. It's easy to take these days for granted, but I am excited to get back into the adult world. Hopefully we can get some sort of morning routine together. I'm fortunate to have a husband that is able and willing (more important) to help me out. We'll see how it works and I'm sure I'll blog about it too.

I don't think I'm going to cry this time at daycare. We have a familiar face in Matthew's room and I trust her 100% completely so we shall see. I also didn't think I would cry when we left him overnight, but I did shed a few tears. Hopefully Emma will distract me at dropoff so I don't embarrass myself like I did with her. The waterworks were going strong at her first dropoff.

I already have an overflowing plate awaiting me at work, which I think is another godsend. I'd rather be too busy than have too much freetime to think about baby boy.

We head up to DH's neck of the woods on Sunday for the Christmas vacation. He is actually taking a few days off of work as well so I'm excited to spend some time together as a family. Maybe we'll even get a night out when Grandma and Grandpa watch the babes. Then we will head down to my family's house on Christmas morning. A tradition DH and I have had for about 4 - 5 years now and very happy to keep it going. Christmas breakfast is one of my favorites and Christmas dinner with about 30 of us is always overwhelming in the best way!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

So one day I turned on the TV and I watched a movie that changed my life..........Julie & Julia.

I've always liked to cook. I may have already posted about this before, but I'll do it again because it's been long enough that at least I forget about it, so you probably have too.

My mom was always a good cook and I learned a lot from my Grandmother as well. When everyone else was out cutting my grandparent's grass, I was inside helping her with dinner. She taught me a lot and being in the kitchen with her are some of my fondest memories. We've had large family dinners my whole life and having 5 - 8 people in the kitchen is the norm for me and honestly what I prefer. It brings everyone together and your making something delicious.

Anyway, back to Julia. After I saw this movie for the first time I became obsessed with Julia Child and her cooking. For Christmas that year my mother bought me the BEST GIFT (seen below).

I don't cook from this often, but I have definitely whipped it out several times and it is never a disappointment. Beef Bourginon is my favorite dish to cook. (i'm sure I misspelled it). It takes me all day, but we LOVE it.

Yesterday I decided on just a roasted chicken.

Mind you the book says you won't even make this perfect unless you're obsessed with making it perfect......i tried.

I was surprised by two things, 1 - I didn't cover it, and 2 - you cook it on it's side. (both sides after flipping it halfway through)

You have to baste it every 8 minutes. 8 MINUTES! I may have been off a few times, but in the end it was SO JUICY!

I think it looked amazing when I was finished and personally I think it tasted great as well. Hubby gave it a 6 out of 10. I'll take his review with a grain of salt, because I don't think I can make a better whole chicken than that. Personally he just isn't a fan of whole chickens so I think he was biased.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Weight & Height: So Momma was right. I was 15 lbs. 10 oz. at my 2 month appointment. The first time they measured my height I was 26 inches which was off the charts. They measured me again and decided I was 24 and 3/4 inches. Still in the 99th percentile for height and weight and loving every minute of it. Mommy's breastmilk is giving me everything I need to grow up big and strong. I know it's taking a toll on her because I eat A LOT, but I really appreciate it and I know she loves being able to do it, because some mommys want to do it and can't.

Things I enjoy: I love bath time. I really enjoy my bouncy chair. I LOVE TO EAT and I love to be held all the time. - none of these have changed.

Skills I've mastered: Remember when I told you guys I mastered one long stretch of sleep a night?? I lied! The past 3 nights I just can't get comfortable. I'm awake for most of the night so mommy and me sleep til about 8 - 9am in the mornings to make up for it. I'm hoping to get back on track by the end of the month. I know I can do it! I'm only 2 months old so I'm not putting too much pressure on myself, although mom gets pretty upset by about 3am in the nighttime when I decide I'm just not interested in sleeping except 2 seconds after I start eating, but I just wake up when she tries to put me down again. I'll get there, I just don't want her to think it's too easy this early on.

Tough Times: Although nights are tough, those are really the only tough times. I don't cry during the day as much as I used to and even though nights are tough, I'm a baby, what do you expect?

Exciting Events: Thanksgiving was everything they told me it would be and more. I got to meet so many people and I got presents and endless hugs and kisses. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but Emma was there the whole time to make sure I was ok.

Looking forward to: CHRISTMAS! I hear I'm going to get even MORE presents. I really don't need anything, but I just love hanging out with the family.

So Chris and I went to Pittsburgh for the night last Saturday. I was AWESOME! We went out in Southside and had sushi and drinks and it was just a great time. I drank water pretty much continuously so not waking up with a hangover was an additional bonus. Sunday morning we went to the casino and then the STEELERS GAME! They lost, but wouldn't have traded our nosebleed seats for the world. It was so nice to spend time just Chris and I. He's a blast to hang out with and we need these times to ourselves, even if they are far and few between right now.

We put the tree up and Emma LOVES Christmas lights. it's so cute, everytimes she sees lights she goes "WOW". So I make sure to point them out at every house I see. I'm even getting her to say "HO HO HO" in a low voice. She has no idea who Santa is or Christmas, but that's ok. She loves the tree and the advent calendar we have that gives her a tiny chocolate treat every day as we countdown the days before Christmas.

We'll be doing Scranton and Coatesville this year as usual. Someday my children will be waking up in their own home Christmas morning, but not quite yet.

I have a million pictures on my phone, but for some reason they aren't uploading to my computer. I'll be sure to do a photodump soon.